D-Day Unity Wears Thin

[struggle4progress]

<snip>
The Normandy landings, and the Allied advance to victory in Germany in 1945, are about as far removed from today's teenagers and twentysomethings as the Boer War was from the baby boomers in Britain in the 1950s and 1960s. The deeds that were done in June 1944 were very brave and exciting, and even necessary. They look good in the semi-mythical world of films. But their immediate relevance to the world of today is no longer entirely apparent to anyone below the age of 30.
<snip>

It seems unlikely that the opposite sides of the Atlantic can agree on a common moment of truth, and therefore on a common cause to legitimize their old alliance.

There is no consensus about the war on terror, neither on its definition nor on the tactics used to fight it. Few in Europe believe that the invasion of Iraq was justified by the threat of terrorism, although it has undoubtedly contributed to the spread of terrorism in its aftermath. Even to call it a war on terror dignifies the terrorists quite wrongly.

Bush may well seek to use this D-day anniversary to rally his erstwhile allies to his cause, arguing that just as they joined forces to defeat Hitler, so should they do so now to defeat global terrorism. They may pay lip service to this campaign, but they will scarcely be enthusiastic. It is the wrong cause, one that threatens to divide the world with a clash of civilizations, rather than unite its peoples against a manifest evil.
<snip>

http://www.sptimes.ru/archive/times/974/opinion/o_12642.htm

[Miss Authoritiva]

1. Was communism defeated?

"Today, the Cold War is over, communism has been defeated, and the events of 1944 and 1945 are something one's grandfather used to reminisce about before he died."

Or did the Soviet Union collapse because of internal failures? The West outlasted the Soviet Union, but did it really defeat it?

[struggle4progress]

2. I always thought the Chernobyl disaster provoked ...

a crisis of confidence that toppled the Soviet government.

[bvar22]

3. Communism Defeated??

Someone better E-Mail Hanoi.
CC: China, Cuba